Oscar Piastri believes he would have “been in a bit of trouble” if the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz had overtaken him during Saturday’s Qatar Grand Prix Sprint Race.
The McLaren driver pipped team-mate Lando Norris to top spot in the earlier Sprint Shootout qualifying session and converted that into his maiden Formula 1 triumph.
While the top three on the grid had elected to start on the Medium compound, George Russell and the two Ferrari drivers made a lightning getaway on the grippier Soft tyre.
That enabled Russell to seize the lead, with Sainz almost demoting Piastri a further place down to third as he attempted a move around the outside of Turn 1 on Lap 6.
However, Piastri was able to resist his advances before utilising the better durability of the Medium tyre to reel in Russell and regain a lead that he would not relinquish.
“I probably got a bit of a better launch than Lando and Max and then obviously the Safety Car spaced everybody out a bit more for me,” Piastri reflected.
“Once George got past I thought I was in a lot of trouble, because I tried to stay around the outside and it was like he had the grip turned up double, so that was difficult.
“I think staying in front of the Ferrari at Turn 1 was pretty important for me, I think if I had gone behind I would have been in a bit of trouble, so that was an important moment in the race.”
A chaotic Sprint encounter witnessed three Safety Car periods across the 19-lap race.
Piastri concedes that the stop-start nature of the early stages hampered the Medium runners, leaving him to endure a “stressful” run to the end as he awaited the arrival of Max Verstappen in his wing mirrors.
“I think at the start it was a bit difficult to judge with the Safety Cars, it wasn’t helping the Medium tyre at all as it would cool down too much,” he explained.
“I think when Carlos was behind me, tried to overtake, after that they dropped back very quickly and from one lap to the next George lost a lot of pace, so at that point I knew I was in a good rhythm.
“It was just how quickly Max was gonna come through, how quickly Lando was gonna come through as well. It was stressful at times, but glad we could see it out.”
Verstappen, who had dropped down to fifth at the start, swiftly began to claw his way back through the pack and recovered to second with only four laps remaining.
Asked when he became aware of the threat the newly crowned three-time World Champion, Piastri replied: “It was just before the last Safety Car really. That last Safety Car was pretty nice for me, to be honest.
“I knew that I had to try and get as much as a gap while Max was behind George as quick as I could, which I managed to get out enough, and the pace at the end was pretty good too.
“I think it was about 10 laps to go or eight laps to go at that point I thought it might be a tough ask, so I’m thanking the Safety Car drivers today.”
He added: “Whenever you’ve got Max behind you it’s not the most confidence-inspiring feeling, I’ll be honest.
“I think the pace was actually probably better than I expected, but pushing flat out with two or three laps to go at that point trying to hold on as best I could.”
Having achieved his maiden podium last time out in Japan, Piastri edged out Verstappen by just 1.8s at the chequered flag to prevail in an F1 race for the first time.
“I was obviously happy to win Sprint. I have to say it’s a bit of a weird feeling because it’s not a race win. It does feel a little bit strange, but very, very happy,” he summarised.
“It’s been a really good day. As a race I think more than the result, I was really happy with how I managed things. A difficult race with tyres as well, so I think good learning for tomorrow and happy I executed [it] well.”
